Beads can be fused together to create works of art that can be used in jewelry, keychains, and other ornaments. In particular, hot melt cylindrical craft beads are hollow, cylindrical beads that can be melted and fused together when exposed to heat; some of the commonly known brands of hot melt beads are PERLER®, HAMA®, and NABBI®. Hot melt beads come in a wide variety of colors and sizes, with the standard hot melt bead's width being approximately that of a pencil eraser. Hot melt beads are frequently used to make two-dimensional images in which different colors of beads are arranged in a specific pattern to resemble, for example, a flag, a piece of fruit, a flower, and the like.
To create a hot melt bead pattern, a user arranges hot melt beads into a pattern on a pegboard, one bead at a time. The pegboard can be specifically configured and shaped to resemble the object being made, or can be rectangular, circular, or some other generic shape. The pegboard includes a plurality of upwardly extending pegs capable of holding a layer of beads; each peg is sized to fit within the central opening of an individual bead. The pegs are arranged and spaced about the pegboard so that when individual beads are placed on adjacent pegs, the beads are touching or very nearly touching one another. After the user has arranged the desired pattern on the pegboard, the user typically covers the beads with wax paper and applies heat to the wax paper, which melts the beads and fuses them together.